BEFORE AND AFTER "The Law"

FOREWORD Gloucester has been renowned for its leadership in the fishing industry since colonial days. From the first failure of the Dorchester Company at Stage Fort to the subsequent glories of the schooner fleets, the story has been told in fact, fiction, poetry, and painting. The literature brings to life the beauty of the place, the dangers of the sea, and the character building of those who contested life in the North Atlantic. Most of our recorded material deals with the exploits of Yankees, Portuguese, Scandinavians, and Nova Scotians. Today, and in the immediate past, it is the Italian-American fishermen who dominate the Gloucester industry. Until 1976, they fished with relative freedom- The Fisheries Conservation and Management Act of 1976 has dramatically altered that condition and this report will attempt to highlight its impact upon the community. Much of the background material describing the development of the Italian-American fishermen in Gloucester was initially prepared by the writer ~ in 1977 and presented a